


The Hardest Part

by gonergone



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 07:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4171815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gonergone/pseuds/gonergone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tadashi has always tried to be a great older brother, but things keep getting in the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hardest Part

**Author's Note:**

  * For [100indecisions](https://archiveofourown.org/users/100indecisions/gifts).



> Fulfilling the request of: _I'd love to see a fic that integrates this movie with the MCU, particularly if it means Tadashi doesn't die (seriously, he could've been in a coma for the whole movie, it wouldn't have changed things much). My main MCU obsession is Loki, or rather sympathetic interpretations and redemption arcs for him (and proper reconciliation with Thor), so if you figured out a way to cross over Big Hero 6 with the MCU in a way that prominently features Loki and maybe Thor, I'd be thrilled._

The funny thing was, Tadashi had just been thinking about Iron Man. The Stark Expo fiasco had happened a week ago, and the news reports were still teeming with revelations and allegations. He and Wasabi had spent two solid days debating what kind of code went into Iron Man's suit – it had to be an AI, and it had to be miles beyond anything they had come up with in the lab or the Student Showcase. Tadashi figured that if he had had just a _glimpse_ at that code, there was no telling what Baymax could do, what kind of upgrades he could install. He also knew that there was no chance at all that he'd ever get a glimpse of the code. 

"I think we should storm Stark Industries and pry the secret out of them by any means necessary," Fred told him, dropping into his chair and throwing his legs over the arm. "Oh! We could outfit Baymax with lasers! And then –"

"I don't think anyone is going to find Baymax very threatening," Wasabi cut in, "even with lasers."

"Right," Fred agreed. "Okay, but what if we put lasers on the microbots? They'll never expect that."

"I don't think that's very likely," Tadashi told him. 

"Really?" Fred looked disappointed. "Don't worry - I'll think of something else." He settled back into the chair and steepled his hands. 

"You do that," Hiro said without looking up from that notes he was scrawling for his Showcase presentation. Less than two days away, he was beginning to freak out, which Tadashi took as a sign of how much he cared.

Tadashi turned away from him so Hiro wouldn't see him smiling.

*

The fire was a complete shock. It took a moment for Tadashi to even understand what he was seeing - it didn't seem possible that they had just been in the same building that was completely engulfed in flame. The realization that Professor Callaghan was still in there was enough to jolt him from shock into crisis mode. 

"Callaghan's in there. Someone has to help," he told Hiro firmly, turning to rush into the burning building himself. Before he could, before he could even _move_ the unmistakable red and gold of Iron Man – the real, actual _Iron Man_ flashed past him and into the burning building.

Then the building exploded, and Tadashi was thrown off his feet, head hitting the concrete walkway so hard he saw stars. 

Things got a little blurry for a while. 

The next thing he was aware of with any clarity was Hiro trying to haul him to his feet, wrapping his skinny arms around Tadashi's shoulders and trying to heave him up. Hiro's mouth was moving, too, and Tadashi assumed he was talking, but Tadashi couldn't hear anything beyond a dull ringing. That was the first thing that really penetrated the thick fog of confusion and pain he was in: he felt a pinprick of panic that he may have lost his hearing. The second thing was Honey, kneeling beside him, and stroking his hair. Her hands came away bright with blood, his blood, and that _really_ brought him back, all at once.

The dancing yellow and orange light in front of him became fire again, and he could feel the heat against his skin. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fred running toward him, through the broken glass and debris that was scattered across the concrete. He was holding something that was incredibly familiar, though it took Tadashi a moment to realize what it was. It was only after Hiro pinched his arm and made Tadashi yelp with pain that the box opened and Baymax emerged, and if Tadashi hadn't been so out of it he would have laughed at the irony of being the first real, emergency patient that Baymax ever treated. 

Baymax left Tadashi with a shot of pain killer, a thick gauze wrapping across most of his skull, and several uncomfortable proddings that made him want to reconsider parts of Baymax's programming once he could think a little more clearly. 

He was on his feet, with Wasabi under one arm, holding him up, when he felt the solid thud reverberate through the walkway as the metal suit landed in front of them. Tadashi blinked up at Iron Man.

"Is everyone okay?" It was hard to know exactly where the metal mask was looking, but Tadashi nodded weakly. 

"I'm fine, but Professor Callaghan is still in there," he said, his voice cracking. "At least, he was before the explosion."

The mask shook its head. "No one was in there." 

Tadashi frowned. "Are you sure?" he asked. He glanced at Hiro. "She said he was still in there, right?"

Hiro nodded. "Definitely." He was eyeing the Iron Man suit closely, and Tadashi knew what he was thinking, because he was thinking the same thing. Mostly.

"There was no one in there. Your professor must've gone out another way." If it was possible for the suit to shrug, Tadashi thought he probably would have. The lighted eyes of the mask flicked past all of them, then returned to Baymax. A second later, the metal faceplate sprang open, revealing the familiar face of Tony Stark. 

"Hello," he said to Baymax, cocking his head.

"Hello," Baymax replied. "I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."

"Huh," Stark said. He poked a metal-clad finger into Baymax's side. "Where did you come from?"

"I'm your personal –" Baymax started.

Tadashi interrupted. "He's my project. For the Robotics Lab."

"He's a big… nurse?"

"He can perform over ten thousand health care procedures," Tadashi said automatically. 

"Really?" Stark pursed his lips, considering. "How many of them," he said, gesturing toward Baymax, "have you made?" 

Tadashi rubbed his face, trying to think. "I have three vinyl bodies, but only one program chip."

Stark squinted at him. "What's your name?"

"Tadashi Hamada." 

"Well, Tadashi Hamada, you should bring it by Stark Industries some time. I'd love to take a look under the hood."

"Seriously?" Tadashi asked in surprise.

"Seriously." Stark quirked up one side of his mouth. "Take it easy, kid." Then he was gone in a flash of speed, disappearing into the dark sky. Tadashi stood blinking after him, his mouth hanging open.

Hiro looked at him with wide eyes, and Tadashi felt a rush of pride at having impressed his notoriously blasé brother. 

“This might be interesting,” was all he said, though, and Hiro nodded.

*

Stark Industries was more than just a building, Tadashi realized as he stepped out of the car Wasabi had generously let him borrow. It was an entire campus. It had _grounds_. Zeroing in on the tallest building, Tadashi stood outside on the sidewalk, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He was holding the bin with Baymax inside, along with a backpack full of notes and his laptop. Taking a deep breath, straightening his lucky San Fransokyo Institute of Technology hat, Tadashi pushed through the doors.

Inside, he glanced around the huge lobby before making his way over to the imposing security desk. "Hi."

The security guard looked him over indifferently. "Can I help you?" 

Tadashi was suddenly aware that he had never considered the idea that Stark's invitation hadn't been real; that Stark had just been throwing out the idea without considering that Tadashi might take it seriously. "Um," he started, marshalling his flailing confidence and standing a little straighter. "My name is Tadashi Hamada. Mr. Stark asked me to come in.”

The guard looked him up and down, and Tadashi had to fight the urge to blush. "Did you have a meeting set up with someone?" He pursed his lips doubtfully at his computer screen. 

"No," Tadashi admitted, feeling his stomach start to plummet. "I guess I should have called first."

"One moment." The guard read something on his screen and his eyes flicked back to Tadashi, narrowing. “You said Hamada, right?” When Tadashi nodded, he picked up the phone. He spoke quietly, eyeing Tadashi over his monitor as he did so. 

When he hung up, he smiled for the first time. "Ms. Rushman said she would be right down."

"Oh," Tadashi blinked at him, surprised. "Thanks." He spent the next few minutes staring around the lobby, watching people dart around the huge space like little birds. He'd been spending a lot of time lately thinking about his future, post-university, and trying to weigh his options. The truth was that he'd hoped to use Baymax to launch a career in robotics design and programming, but the hows and wheres were still a little fuzzy. A year ago he would never have considered Stark Industries, Weapons Manufacturers for the World as a potential place to apply, but since Tony Stark's epiphany everything had changed. Now it was a real possibility. At least, he hoped it was.

Tadashi wasn't sure what he'd expected, but since his name was on some sort of list, he had thought he’d at least have a few minutes of someone’s time. Not _Stark’s_ time, obviously. He wasn’t an idiot. But perhaps an underling, or an underling’s underling. What he hadn’t expected was for Natalie Rushman to shake his hand and immediately start leading him back to the front door. Tadashi felt his heart sink. He hadn’t even warranted a real meeting with an underling.

Rushman was looking him over, and Tadashi automatically pulled on the bill of his lucky hat, for once wishing he’d left it at home.

"I'm afraid Mr. Stark isn't in the building at the moment,” Rushman told him, “but he did ask me to send you to his workshop."

Tadashi stared at her, not sure he’d heard that right. "He did?"

Rushman nodded. "Happy will give you a ride over there." She pointed to the sleek black car pulling in out front. 

“Happy?” Tadashi repeated, dazed.

“He’s the driver. He’s known Mr. Stark for years, so if he offers you any advice about dealing with him, you should take it.” 

“Oh,” Tadashi replied, feeling like that was something he should’ve known. 

Rushman seemed to take pity on him. "It will be fine," she told him. "Mr. Stark doesn't usually like having people in his personal workshop, but he's really interested in what you've been doing." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card. "If there's anything else you need, please give me a call." 

"It was really nice meeting you," Tadashi said sincerely, sliding out the door and back onto the sunlit sidewalk. 

Rushman smiled. “Good luck,” she told him, and Tadashi thought she might’ve actually meant it.

"Thanks," he swallowed, heading toward the car. He was pretty sure he’d need it.

*

He spent the whole ride staring out the window, feeling his stomach churn in nervousness. He thought about texting Hiro, but interpersonal relationships and tricky social situations had never been Hiro’s strong points. Neither were pep talks, which is what Tadashi thought he really needed. He texted Honey instead, smiling when he got three happy face emoticons in a row in response. No matter how things went with Stark, he’d always have his friends, and that mattered more.

*

The house was _huge_. They had been crammed above the café for so long that it was hard to imagine one person living in all that space. Tadashi couldn’t help but stare around as Happy led him down the stairs to the basement, where they could hear music blaring. 

In the middle of some of the most amazing equipment Tadashi had ever seen was Tony Stark himself, casual in jeans and a black t-shirt with the blue-lit outline of the mini arc reactor shining through. He leaned around a loose collection of wires and metal and looked Tadashi up and down.

"Vinyl nurse, right?" he asked, pointing a crescent wrench at him.

Tadashi blinked at him, wide-eyed. "Yeah. Or you can call me Tadashi." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Hello, again."

"Do you know how to use a soldering iron?" 

It took Tadashi a moment to process, but he shook himself out of his daze and nodded. "Of course."

Stark nodded to the iron on one of the long counters and Tadashi picked it up gingerly. 

"I need a low flame here," Stark told him, pointing. He handed Tadashi a pair of safety goggles that he had dangling around his neck.

Tadashi put them on and flicked on the tool, peering at the cut metal in front of him. He let his breath out slowly and leaned forward. This part, creating a body, had always been the most difficult for him – Tadashi thought of himself as a coder at heart, but code needed something to go _into_. He adjusted the flame and got to work.

*

When he was done, Stark peered at the joint for a moment before grinning. "Great," he said. "Better than they could do, anyway." He gestured at two smaller robots in the corner that Tadashi hadn't noticed. 

"You made those, too?" 

"They're nothing. Code's buggy as hell. Eventually," he added, raising his voice in their direction, "I'm going to pull them apart for scraps." 

Tadashi raised his eyebrows, and Stark shrugged. "I need a high flame up here," he pointed, "be careful not to barbeque the wiring."

*

It went on like that for most of the afternoon, Stark giving orders and Tadashi working to fill them. Finally, Stark sat back and stretched, smiling, and Tadashi figured that he'd passed the test. 

Stark jerked his chin at the Baymax bin. "Let's take a look."

*

By the time he left, Tadashi was feeling dazed again, clutching pages of scrawled notes he'd made from Stark's suggestions. He was still having trouble believing he wasn't dreaming. He had so much work to do, and a thousand new ideas. He couldn't wait to get back to the lab and try some new things out.

*

Then New York happened. 

"This is crazy," Hiro said, shaking his head. 

It was morning in California when news reports started coming in; everyone in the lab gathered around Wasabi's large computer monitor, all of them quiet as the revelation - _aliens are attacking New York!_ \- slowly set in. 

"We should get home," Tadashi said, knocking his fist lightly against Hiro's shoulder. "Aunt Cass is going to be worried."

"Later. I don't want to miss anything," Hiro replied, his eyes glued to the screen. 

"What if they come here next?" Fred asked.

Honey shot Wasabi a panicked look, but GoGo rolled her eyes. "They're not going to come here next."

"Iron Man's there, and Captain America," Wasabi said in a faux-soothing voice that had more than an edge of worry underneath it. He leaned against the plaque they had put up in memory of Professor Callaghan in the middle of the lab. He had never been very good at pretending to be nonchalant, and it showed.

"Right, and they have friends," Tadashi agreed. "They'll be able to stop them. Definitely." He tried to sound surer than he felt, and was glad to see Honey look a little relieved. 

"But –" Hiro started, and Tadashi elbowed him. Hiro gave him a wounded look.

"This changes everything," GoGo said quietly, and Tadashi nodded, numb. 

"We need to get home," he repeated, with more urgency, and this time Hiro didn't argue.

*

Tadashi was still reeling inside when the phone rang the next day. He frowned at the unfamiliar number on the caller ID. Everyone was on edge even after the battle of New York had officially been won, and anything out of the ordinary was being viewed a little suspiciously. No one knew what was going to happen next, and it seemed like anything might be possible.

Tadashi hesitated, but finally answered. "Hello?"

"Tadashi Hamada?" A female voice asked. A familiar female voice, Tadashi thought, but he couldn't place it at all. 

"Yes?"

"We met at Stark Industries. I don't know if you remember, but – "

"Natalie?" He tried to think of her last name. 

There was a pause. "Right. Can you come to New York?" she asked. "Stark – and a few others – think Baymax might be useful here. The hospitals are completely overwhelmed, and the National Guard is here."

That… definitely hadn’t been what Tadashi was expecting, but it made sense. In one fell swoop, Baymax was being pulled out of the build stage and jumping over all the testing to real, live patients. It was actually more terrifying than anything, but that didn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. After all, this was _exactly_ what Baymax had been built for. Tadashi was already mentally deciding what extra equipment he'd have to bring. “I don’t know what the flights are going to be like,” he started, wondering if Stark would reimburse him for his ticket.

Natalie cut him off. “Stark is sending his plane for you. It’s already in the air, so it should get to the San Fransokyo Airport in a few hours. There are some things that you'll need to be brought up to speed on once you’re here, so the sooner you can get on it, the better.”

"I can leave today," Tadashi told her, his excitement growing with every word. "I'll miss classes, but no one is really paying attention to anything at this po – " He was distracted by Hiro pulling on his arm.

"You're going to New York?” Hiro asked, incredulous. 

Tadashi moved the phone away from his mouth. “I’m bringing Baymax. There are a lot of injuries.”

Hiro rolled his eyes. “I want to come, too," he said.

Tadashi shook his head and tried to turn away from him. 

"I've been making more microbots," Hiro went on, popping up in front of him again. "I have enough to do some real construction work. There was _tons_ of structural damage there. I can help, too."

The thing was, he was right. The microbots _could_ be useful. Tadashi sighed, tapping his fingers against the counter, thinking. On the one hand, the microbots could show their real use to the devastated remains of New York the same way Baymax could. On the other hand… Hiro, in New York. There was no end to the trouble he’d get into, and it exhausted Tadashi just thinking about it. On the _other_ other hand, Hiro had grown up a little since he’d decided to aim higher than bot fights. 

A very, very little. 

Tadashi sighed. "Natalie, is it okay if my brother Hiro comes, too? He has some tech that can help rebuild the city. I promise I'll look after him while we're there." 

Natalie didn't hesitate. "I'm sure that will be fine. Do you have a way of getting to the airport, or do you need me to send a car?"

Tadashi nodded at Hiro to let him know he was in, and Hiro bounced around eagerly. "We can get a ride. Thanks, Pepper."

After he disconnected the call, he looked over at Hiro and ran a hand through his hair. "You get to be the one to tell Aunt Cass," he told him.

*

New York looked like the battlefield it had been. Tadashi and Hiro had seen a lot of news footage, but it was nothing compared to actually being there and seeing the carnage for themselves. Tadashi had been so excited about the prospect of trying Baymax out for real that he hadn't really considered how grim the reality of the city would be, and he watched Hiro worriedly their first few days there.

"Stop it," Hiro finally snapped. "I'm not a little _kid_." They glare he gave Tadashi made Tadashi want to quibble with that last part, but Hiro just rolled his eyes. "Sometimes you're worse than Aunt Cass, you know."

Tadashi just shrugged. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm _fine_. The bots are doing great. They're clearing streets faster than I thought they would." That was true enough. At first the bots were used just to help get rid of rubble and make streets passable again. Tadashi had started the trip going with Hiro out into the streets in the morning, until Hiro had demanded he stay with Baymax at the overflowing hospital. He replicated the program chip so that all three vinyl bodies could be used at once, reaching the highest number of patients possible. 

The thing was, Baymax was running perfectly without him, and at the hospital he got to stand around making a few notes and watching Baymax diagnose and treat minor injuries, the ones that the doctors had had to ignore in favor of all the major traumas that had come in directly after the attack. He had to recharge their batteries every few hours, since he hadn't really calibrated how quickly the batteries would be depleted by medical procedures, but on the whole he was really proud of how well they were holding up.

He and Hiro had been set up on one of the lower floors of Stark Tower, and in those first days he had barely seen Stark or any of the other Avengers, though Tadashi knew they were in and out of the building. At first, Tadashi attributed the high levels of security around the Stark Tower to their presence – there were, even in the first day the Hamadas arrived, protesters blaming the Avengers for the destruction of the city, and there was a pervasive feeling in the city of fear and anger.

Tadashi thought it was unfair but not unexpected – _of course_ people were afraid, _of course_ they were angry. 

It was only on the third day, when Natalie came down to their suite, that Tadashi had an inkling that there might be another reason for all of it. "First off," she said, eyeing the mess Hiro had made of the room, "you can call me Natasha here. It will make things easier." 

She didn't offer any other explanation, and Tadashi wasn't about to ask. At Stark Industries she'd seemed professional and distant, but now there was something else that was vaguely intimidating about her ramrod straight posture and the way she seemed to be watching everything at once. 

"Secondly, I need you to grab your robot and follow me."

"Is someone hurt?" Tadashi asked, shoving his feet into his battered trainers and grabbing the nearest Baymax bin. 

Natalie – Natasha – seemed to consider that for a moment. "In a manner of speaking," she finally said, "but if you ask me, he wasn't hurt _enough_."

As he followed her to the elevator, Tadashi realized that was all the information he was going to get. 

*

Tadashi had never sat down and considered what the basement of Stark Tower must be like, but the reality was far weirder than anything he would have been able to come up with.

His eyes widened as he walked through the line of armed soldiers. He clutched the Baymax bin to his chest uncomfortably. Eventually Natasha led him into a small room with a steel door at one end. "Have fun," she told him, backing out of the room and leaving him alone.

He looked around the room. Besides a few chairs pushed against the far wall, it was empty and bare and, Tadashi thought, pretty unwelcoming. Had Natasha left him there as a joke? That didn't make any sense. Gathering his courage a little bit, he pulled experimentally on the handle of the steel door. 

The room inside was vast enough that Tadashi could only guess at the existence of the far walls. What he could see was a large glass enclosure in the middle of the room. He couldn't see into it, not from that angle, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to.

Stark was there, with another man Tadashi hadn't seen before. His eyepatch took Tadashi aback a little, though not as much as the air of intensity around the room. He looked from Stark to the man and back again, trying to figure out what was going on.

Stark pointed at him. "Tadashi, right? Tadashi, this is Nick Fury. You can call him Nick, if you want. He loves that."

Fury scowled.

Tadashi raised an eyebrow. Stark smirked at both of them. "He's the Director of SHIELD, so this is kind of his party. Even though, I would like to point out, I did most of the work. Actually, almost all the work. At least 75% of the work, just so we're clear."

Tadashi looked back and forth between them. "Why am I here?" he asked finally. 

Stark pointed at the glass sphere, and Tadashi stepped forward to get a better look at it. Immediately, Fury's hand was on his shoulder, holding his back.

"Better not," Fury told him. 

"It's kind of classified," Stark added carelessly. "Although after he pretty much trashed the city, I'm not sure why you're even bothering."

"He…?" Tadashi frowned at the glass. "He did all of this?" He waved a hand toward the basement ceiling, encompassing all of New York. "One person?" 

Fury sighed. "His name is Loki, and yeah, everything you're seeing out there in the city? That's thanks to him and the army he brought with him."

That still didn't answer Tadashi's question. "But why am _I_ here?"

Stark and Fury exchanged a look. "We've been trying to interrogate him for the last few days, but so far we haven't gotten anything from him." 

Tadashi glanced down at the Baymax bin he was still clutching and then back up at them. He really didn't want to contemplate what they meant by 'interrogate' and why that would mean they needed Baymax. 

"Loki has the power to create extremely realistic illusions. It's caused us a few problems in the past."

Stark snorted. " _More_ than a few problems, but way to understate it." He cocked his head and looked at Tadashi. "We're hoping to use Baymax's coding – especially the scanner – to separate illusion from reality. We've already proved that people? Not so hot at it. Baymax will be able to scan for heartbeats, temperature differentials, all kinds of biometrics to know where the real Loki is no matter what illusions he tries to use." 

"And because Baymax is a robot, Loki won't be able to use any kind of emotional manipulation," Fury added.

Tadashi frowned, suspicious. "That's it? Baymax isn't here to provide medical care at all?" 

"Nothing you need to worry about. Loki is considered a war criminal, and we've already arranged his transportation back to his own people for punishment. That doesn't mean we don't have questions that need answers, for our own planet's self-defense, but we'll deliver him in one piece." He and Stark shared another look.

"Nobody's really eager to find out what will happen if we don't," Stark shrugged.

Tadashi processed this. "What do you need me to do?"

"Unfortunately, you can't be here for the interrogation," Fury told him. 

"Not that you'd want to be." Stark rolled his eyes. "We might need you to tweak the code, though, if something doesn't work quite right, alien biology and all. You can wait in the other room, and I'll grab you if we need you." 

Tadashi considered for several long seconds before nodding and placing he Baymax case on the floor. He didn't trust them, not exactly, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it. 

*

Of course Stark Tower – even the basement where an alien war criminal was being held – had wifi. Tadashi was busy texting Fred when the outer door opened and a familiar-looking man with long blond hair entered the room. With a start, Tadashi realized he recognized him from the news footage.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Tadashi Hamada." He held out his hand tentatively, unsure if Asgardians even shook hands.

"Thor," he replied, his hand closing warm on Tadashi's. "It is wonderful to meet you." Thor's lips lifted for an instant before his expression settled back to the brooding look.

Tadashi watched him for a long moment. "Are you okay?" he finally asked. "Is there something I can do?"

The question seemed to be one that Thor genuinely needed to contemplate. "I'm fine," he said finally. He flashed Tadashi another swift smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I just seem to be worried about my brother and what's happening, even after everything."

Tadashi glanced at the steel door, his eyes widening. "Your brother?" he asked, his mind making all sorts of connections he wasn't sure what to do with. 

"Indeed," Thor sighed. 

"They're not –" Tadashi started. "I mean, they aren't going to actually –" he swallowed, wondering why he'd believed Stark so easily. 

Thor was watching him. "Whatever they're doing, it's nothing compared to what he will face when he get back to Asgard. My father's wrath is legendary. And yet, I worry."

"He's your brother," Tadashi told him. "I'll always worry about Hiro, no matter how old he is or what he's done. I'll always want to protect him, even from his own mistakes." He exhaled noisily. "He's out there in New York right now, and it's really difficult for me to let him go do what he needs to do by himself. But I have to trust him to make his own decisions at some point, even if I don't agree with all of them." 

"And if he makes truly terrible decisions?" Thor asked quietly. 

Tadashi sat back and raked a hand through his hair. "I'd need to let him accept the consequences of those decisions, no matter how much I wanted to shield him from them."

Thor nodded. "You have to hope that he can learn something from it."

"Hiro's really smart, and sometimes I forget how young he is. He's still a kid; he hasn't learned to be selfless or compassionate about things when it's needed yet. But I have to believe he will learn those things, in his own time. I can't always be there to remind him." He shook his head. "Knowing that doesn't stop me from worrying about him pretty much all the time, though."

"No," Thor agreed softly, "it doesn't."

They were both silent for a long time, lost in thought.

*

When Hiro got back with his microbots that evening, dusty and with bits of concrete in his hair, Tadashi handed him a slice of pizza and settled in to listen to what he'd been up to all day.

"I know we were only going to stay for a week or two to help out a little, but there's so much to do." He took a deep breath, and eyed Tadashi apprehensively. "I know you want to get back to the lab, but I think we should stay. They _need_ us here. We're really doing something important."

Tadashi tried to hide his smile. "If that's what you think, I guess we can stay. But _you_ need to tell Aunt Cass."


End file.
